“Of crimes against the audience? Not guilty.”
Enhancing yourpresentation skills
Wendy Rodgers, University of Guelph LibraryOLA Superconference; Feb. 4, 2005
Public speaking is 1% presentation and 99% preparation.
mind message material myself
Presentation metaphysics
Why are we here?
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mind message material myself
Mutual goal: successful communication
Effects of performance orientation
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Effects of communication orientation
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“But you didn’t look nervous…”
The illusion of transparency
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The self-focused speaker
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The audience-focused speaker
Being fully present gives you presence
• “Lose yourself”• Lose your self-focus
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We’recausinga scene!
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Audience as scene partner
• Relationship• What are you fighting for?• Tactics
mind message material myself
mind message material myself
Why do we use PowerPoint?
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c2003 Edward Tufte, The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint
PowerPoint “seeks to set upa dominance relationship between speaker and audience.”
Edward Tufte
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The tyrannyofexpectations
Respect your audience
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You finished reading this long before I finished saying it.
Respect your audience
“Genuine speech is the expression of a genuine personality . . . Whenever genuine speech is spoken, it creates community.”
- Northrop FryeIf you’re still reading, you know that this
quotation has nothing to do with my point, which is: don’t show one message and say another.
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Respect your audience
• Don’t use animations or sounds unless you have a good reason.
• This is not a good reason.
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Prepare to respect your audience
• Write outside PowerPoint• Analyze for visual opportunities• Plant flags• Use aid when you need aid• Be quantitative
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The speaker is a visual aid
mind message material myself
Prepare thyself
• Not just how long, but how you prepare
• Time yourself• Memorize opening & closing lines• Use brief notes • Tours and Toastmasters• Post-mortem• Steal!
mind message material myself
mind message material myself
Two excerpts fromMartin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech
Take a cue from improv
The best way to look good is to make your scene partner look
good.
mind message material myself